Fort Lauderdale, Florida Power Outage Today

How reliable is Florida Power & Light (FPL) service in Fort Lauderdale?

Florida Power & Light (FPL) is an investor-owned utility with 5,976,022 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.04 interruptions and 702 minutes (about 11.7 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 11.3 hours.

About 93% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 46 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers, they stayed out for about 11.3 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Florida as a whole averaged 1,322 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Florida Power & Light (FPL) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 34 utilities in Florida with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Florida Power & Light (FPL) ranks 17th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 15% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Fort Lauderdale

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 315 storm reports for Broward County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (88), flood (71), hail (58), and tornado (30). The busiest full year was 2020 with 52 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 14, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (55 since 2015), followed by May and September. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 17 storm episodes in Broward County since 2015, most often in September. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Fort Lauderdale do to the grid:

• Flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.
• Tornado. A tornado destroys poles and lines along its path. Repairs there mean rebuilding rather than reconnecting, so restoration takes days instead of hours.
• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.

Storm reports that name Fort Lauderdale

Within Broward County, 34 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Fort Lauderdale as their location or in their description: flood (12), tornado (8), flash flood (7), and thunderstorm wind (5). That is about 11% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Fort Lauderdale are most common in October. The busiest full year was 2023 with 9. These reports record 4 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Fort Lauderdale

89.8% of occupied homes in Fort Lauderdale are heated with electricity (US 41.3%). In a winter outage those homes lose heat the moment the power fails, and electric furnaces and heat pumps are too large to run from a portable generator. Warm layers, blankets and a plan for where to stay matter more here than in a gas-heated city.

Residents aged 65 or older are 19.6% of the population in Fort Lauderdale, close to the US share of 17.2% and 12.2% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Florida Power & Light (FPL) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 43.6% of the housing in Fort Lauderdale was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 37.6% of homes are in buildings with 20 or more units (US 10.3%), where an outage also stops elevators and water pumps, which matters for upper floors and anyone who cannot use stairs; 45.9% of households rent (US 34.8%), so many residents depend on a landlord to restore building systems and cannot add a generator or battery themselves.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Fort Lauderdale

The average Florida Power & Light (FPL) home used about 1,129 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.5 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.7 cents per kWh (14.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $155 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 11.3 hours takes about 4.5 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Fort Lauderdale

About 182,760 people live in Fort Lauderdale, the 10th largest of the 20 Florida cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Florida Power & Light (FPL)’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Fort Lauderdale power outage map

Florida Power & Light (FPL)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Fort Lauderdale power outage questions